Origin of fire still being investigated

Jaidyn Campbell, 6, top, and her sister, Raelyn Mark, 8, lay down bears and a card near the Jordan home where five children died in a fire Monday night. Both of the girls were friends of the Jordan children.

Those women escaped the burning house. So did the children's aunt, Kyla Cole, 21.

Investigators have not yet interviewed the aunt, who suffered critical injuries and remained at Shands at the University of Florida on Wednesday.

Why couldn't those women save the children? Stephens said his agency has "some theories."

For starters: The fire probably spread so quickly that smoke, fire and the resulting chaos rendered the adults unable to find the children.

He said the smoke alarm wasn't operating. If it had been, everyone may have been alerted and escaped.

The mother and grandmother exited through a window. Two firefighters went in and pulled two of the siblings, ages 6 and 12, from the home. The aunt was rescued by a husband and wife who broke a window from the outside.

Stephens said as far as he knew, everyone in the home was asleep when the fire started. They believe the aunt woke up, noticed the home was on fire and alerted everyone.

Asked about the layout of the home, Stephens said as you enter there is a living room. To the right are two bedrooms, with a bathroom in the middle. To the left is another bedroom.

The kitchen is visible from the living room. Behind the kitchen are two more bedrooms, one to the left and the other to the right.

"It's a very small home, roughly about 1,300 square feet," he said.

Support flows in

Robbin and Angela Stroud, the couple who rescued the children's aunt, told the Star-Banner on Wednesday that they visited Krista Jordan and Linda Cole at Munroe on Tuesday. They said that, physically, the women looked fine — but emotionally, they were wrecks.

At the charred home in Citra, numerous people stopped by Wednesday. Some dropped off teddy bears and balloons.

Heather Lister and Kenny Reece brought five homemade wooden crosses that were placed at the base of a large tree. On the cross were the children's names — Joseph, Austin, Shyanne, William and Trenity — written on square boards. The boys' names were engraved in dark blue colors, while the girls' names were in red.

"It needed to be done and somebody needed to remember them," Reece said.

Marcus Richard, 7, and Katrina Davis, 6, were among the people who helped make the crosses. They remembered Trenity as friendly and a fan of basketball.

Krista Jordan, the mother, is a manager at the McDonald's at State Road 40 and Interstate 75. A spokeswoman for McDonald's said the owners of that franchise, Bill and Lori Findlay, said "we and the entire McDonald's family are deeply saddened by Krista's loss and this overwhelming tragedy."

The spokeswoman also said the company is trying to establish a benefit for the family. Those details have not yet been worked out.

Plots for the children have been donated, and events for the family have been planned. Chief among them: a benefit fish fry from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at First Baptist Church of Citra.

Also, an official with Roberts Funeral Homes said there will be a celebration of life service for the children at 4 p.m. Monday. The venue has not yet been selected.

<p>CITRA -- A day after five siblings died in a fire at their home, an official with the State Fire Marshal's Office said his agency is still trying to determine what caused the blaze.</p><p>On another front, support for the Jordan family continued to pour in, and details of a memorial service began to emerge.</p><p>Lt. Robby Stephens of the State Fire Marshal's Office said investigators continued studying several possible contributing factors: a space heater, laundry, cigarette butts and old electrical wiring.</p><p>"Everything we see says it was accidental, but we can't pinpoint it (the cause)," Stephens said.</p><p>On Tuesday, investigators interviewed the children's mother, Krista Jordan, 31, and the grandmother, Linda Cole, 54, at Munroe Regional Medical Center. They plan on follow-up interviews later.</p><p>Those women escaped the burning house. So did the children's aunt, Kyla Cole, 21.</p><p>Investigators have not yet interviewed the aunt, who suffered critical injuries and remained at Shands at the University of Florida on Wednesday.</p><p>Why couldn't those women save the children? Stephens said his agency has "some theories."</p><p>For starters: The fire probably spread so quickly that smoke, fire and the resulting chaos rendered the adults unable to find the children.</p><p>He said the smoke alarm wasn't operating. If it had been, everyone may have been alerted and escaped.</p><p>The mother and grandmother exited through a window. Two firefighters went in and pulled two of the siblings, ages 6 and 12, from the home. The aunt was rescued by a husband and wife who broke a window from the outside.</p><p>Stephens said as far as he knew, everyone in the home was asleep when the fire started. They believe the aunt woke up, noticed the home was on fire and alerted everyone.</p><p>Asked about the layout of the home, Stephens said as you enter there is a living room. To the right are two bedrooms, with a bathroom in the middle. To the left is another bedroom.</p><p>The kitchen is visible from the living room. Behind the kitchen are two more bedrooms, one to the left and the other to the right.</p><p>"It's a very small home, roughly about 1,300 square feet," he said.</p><p>Support flows in</p><p>Robbin and Angela Stroud, the couple who rescued the children's aunt, told the Star-Banner on Wednesday that they visited Krista Jordan and Linda Cole at Munroe on Tuesday. They said that, physically, the women looked fine — but emotionally, they were wrecks.</p><p>At the charred home in Citra, numerous people stopped by Wednesday. Some dropped off teddy bears and balloons.</p><p>Heather Lister and Kenny Reece brought five homemade wooden crosses that were placed at the base of a large tree. On the cross were the children's names — Joseph, Austin, Shyanne, William and Trenity — written on square boards. The boys' names were engraved in dark blue colors, while the girls' names were in red.</p><p>"It needed to be done and somebody needed to remember them," Reece said.</p><p>Marcus Richard, 7, and Katrina Davis, 6, were among the people who helped make the crosses. They remembered Trenity as friendly and a fan of basketball.</p><p>Krista Jordan, the mother, is a manager at the McDonald's at State Road 40 and Interstate 75. A spokeswoman for McDonald's said the owners of that franchise, Bill and Lori Findlay, said "we and the entire McDonald's family are deeply saddened by Krista's loss and this overwhelming tragedy."</p><p>The spokeswoman also said the company is trying to establish a benefit for the family. Those details have not yet been worked out.</p><p>Plots for the children have been donated, and events for the family have been planned. Chief among them: a benefit fish fry from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at First Baptist Church of Citra.</p><p>Also, an official with Roberts Funeral Homes said there will be a celebration of life service for the children at 4 p.m. Monday. The venue has not yet been selected.</p><p><i>Contact Austin L. Miller at austin.miller@starbanner.com or 867-4118.</i></p>